West Virginia’s Jack Kartsonas made his first start of the 2025 season on Sunday, tossing seven shutout innings as the Mountaineers beat Houston 11-4, sweeping the three-game series over the Cougars.
Since the start of Big 12 play, the Mountaineers have struggled to find consistency from all three of their weekend starters. Kartsonas, who has been used in longer relief roles was given the opportunity to start and he made the most of it.
West Virginia got on the board in the first inning and that was more than enough for the right-handed, who transferred to play for WVU from Kent State this past offseason.
The Mountaineers scored two in the opening frame, as Kyle West unleashed a 381-foot opposite field home run, his fourth of the season, as West Virginia led 2-0.
Kartsonas would settle into things in a hurry, retiring the side in just nine pitches.
Kartsonas did not allow a hit until the third inning, as he made quick work of a leadoff single, but he ran into more trouble in the fourth.
An infield single and a walk, put runners on first and second for Houston before Brodie Kresser would make a sliding play to his right at shortstop, getting the force out at third base to end the inning and keep the Cougars off the board.
West Virginia’s offense grabbed another run in the third on a RBI groundout from Sam White, before they added two more in the fourth.
Those runs came off the bat of Logan Sauve, who hit his first of two home runs on the afternoon, a two-run shot that traveled 441 feet, putting the Mountaineers ahead 5-0.
Outside of the fourth inning, Kartsonas was able to dominate the Cougars throughout the afternoon. He did not allow a baserunner in the fifth, sixth, or seventh innings, ending his afternoon after the seventh.
His final line was 7.0 innings pitched, on 97 total pitches, allowing no runs on two hits, walking two, and striking out five.
After Kartsonas exited, West Virginia got more of a lift from their offense, scoring four runs in the eighth. Chase Swain scored on a wild pitch, and Gavin Kelly stole home after tripling.
Sauve would then unload his second home run of the day, this one a 394-foot blast, putting WVU in front 9-0, as Sauve had the second multi-home run day of his career.
Bryson Hoff came into the game to relieve Kartsonas in the eighth, hitting the first batter he faced, before walking the second. That ended his afternoon as Reese Bassinger came into the game with runners on first and second with no outs.
Bassinger got a strikeout of the first batter he faced before he walked the next to load the bases. The Cougars added a run on a groundout before Bassinger ended the inning on another groundout.
WVU added two more runs in the ninth as Kelly singled home two more runs, extending WVU's lead to 11-1.
Bryant Yoak started the ninth inning for WVU, but lasted only two batters. In came Tyler Hutson to complete the series sweep for WVU, getting three outs, while also allowing three runs in the process.
With the win, West Virginia picks up their 30th win of the season. This is the fourth season in a row, WVU has compiled at least 30 wins. It took them 49 games to get to win No. 30 last season, taking just 34 games this season.
West Virginia is also in first place in the Big 12 with the win, as their winning streak is extended to 10 ...
